Congress-free India: Amit Shah's target for BJP cadres

Ratified by the National Council as President, BJP chief Amit Shah today sought fresh milestones by seeking victory in the coming elections.

NEW DELHI: Ratified by the National Council as President, BJP chief Amit Shah today sought fresh milestones by seeking victory in the coming elections in all the four states saying the country was still not "Congress-free" while Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Congress and others of playing vote-bank politics.

In his address to the National Council, the first party gathering after its landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections, Shah said time has come to spread the BJP ideology and expand its reach across the country like the Congress did all these years, saying the party cannot rule for long otherwise.

"For long, Congress 'vichar' (thought) has been pre- dominant in the country's politics. Now, it is time to ensure that our 'vichar' (thought) has an imprint on the nation's politics," said Shah, architect of BJP's victory in crucial Uttar Pradesh winning 73 out of 80 seats there in Lok Sabha polls.

"The country is yet to be rid of Congress. The cadres should keep this in mind... Assembly elections are coming in four states of Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

We need to ensure that we get absolute majority in all these states. This is our foremost priority. But our long-term objective is to provide good governance to the entire country," he told the conclave attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior leaders like L K Advani, M M Joshi and outgoing party chief Rajnath Singh.

Talking about e-membership plan of the party, Shah, considered an ace stratageist on organizational matters, said not a single college and university should be left without the BJP's e-registration booth.

Asking cadres from across the country to focus on the assembly elections in four states due later this year, he said "the states will see development only when BJP government is formed there."

Shah, who is credited with getting BJP-led alliance 73 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections, said the government would have to run efficiently to play a long innings and along with it, the party has its role of reaching out to more and more people and states to carry the message of good governance.